MELBOURNE, Australia — The 2024 Victoria Music Awards were attacked by “unknown attackers” who manipulated multiple publicly voted awards, organizers confirmed.
Industry body Music Victoria, which hosts the annual awards ceremony, announced the breach via a social media post on Wednesday evening, November 27, and published a longer explanation on its official website.
Representatives from the Victoria Music Awards revealed that they “recently became aware of unusual activity in the third-party voting system used for the public voting categories of the 2024 awards”.
The statement continued that through an internal investigation, “including liaison with third-party voting system Award Force, cybersecurity experts and legal advice, it was discovered that a targeted campaign by an unidentified attacker resulted in thousands of incorrectly registered votes being cast.” Registered in error”. Attribution to nominees resulted in changes in winners in five of the six public voting categories. “
The most recent event was held on October 25 in Federation Square, Melbourne, the state capital.
The legitimate winners have been reinstated, with Music Victoria insisting it will “make space” at the 2025 ceremony to “present the winners in front of our industry”.
Following an investigation, the Victoria Music Awards have now awarded Jess Ribeiro the “Summer of Love” (Best Song) award and Angie McMahon the “Summer of Love” (Best Song) award Light, dark, light, one more time (Best Album), Maple Glider (Best Soloist), Gut Health (Best Group) and Leah Senior (Best Regional Performance).
As it enters its 20th year, Music Victoria acknowledged “the news may be disappointing and devastating to members”. Victoria Police’s Cybercrime, Fraud, Scam and Cybersecurity Unit has been assigned to investigate the matter.
It’s a highlight of the Victorian event, which began in 2005 as a platform to celebrate the state’s brightest and best contemporary music acts.
In explaining its decision over the shocking development, the association noted that it is “committed to honesty, transparency and integrity.”
In the meantime, organizers continue to “liaise with third-party voting systems Award Force and cybersecurity experts to ensure we reduce the risk of a similar incident happening again,” the statement continued.
Winners in the 2024 industry categories that were not affected by the hack include Gretta Ray (Best Pop), Cheryl Durongpisitkul (Best Musician) and Pizza Death (Best Heavy Work).
